


The 7 Year Itch

by lilybookworm



Series: The Only Exception [2]
Category: Glee
Genre: Alternate Universe - He's Just Not That Into You (2009) Fusion, D/s dynamic mentions, M/M, Not Beta Read, Sam and Finn are Kurt's Biological Brothers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-26
Updated: 2020-08-26
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:54:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,480
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26119915
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilybookworm/pseuds/lilybookworm
Summary: Sequel to Somewhere Only We Know, set seven years later.“Well, Lilah really likes the season and it seemed silly to wait a whole year to do it.” Kurt was skeptical. Definitely pregnant he thought and he wasn’t the least bit surprised she was drinking even if she was. Amazingly he was not the one to voice it. It was Rachel’s shrill voice that rang out.“Oh my god, you are so pregnant!” Kurt would have laughed at the yelp that Finn let out over that if he didn’t think someone would kill him. All eyes were on Lilah.“I’m not fucking pregnant. Stop looking at me like that. We're in love, you assholes and that’s what people do when they’re in love. They get married.”
Relationships: Kurt Hummel/Sebastian Smythe
Series: The Only Exception [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1890865
Comments: 12
Kudos: 48





	The 7 Year Itch

**Author's Note:**

> Hey thank you so much for reading! So when I started writing the first part of the series I knew I wanted to eventually blend my two favorite couples from the movie hence why this is set seven years in the future. This one is far more serious than the other one. I also always intended it to be strictly two pieces in the series. However it seems like people enjoyed the D/s dynamic hints so I could probably be persuaded to add a few oneshots that are more explicit.   
> As always if you would like to be a beta for my work please let me know.

Sebastian and Santana watched Hunter carefully as he got back into the car. They'd been waiting for him for a while. It was their group night and Sebastian had driven them over to the store because Hunter wanted to grab a 6 pack and a few snacks, but all of a sudden, he’d been talking to a pretty tan girl in the parking lot where they were waiting for him. Sebastian didn’t want to think badly of Him, but he knew Santana had no such issues. She’d never liked him much, and too be fair if Kurt wasn’t such good friends with Quinn, they probably would have never been friends at all. 

“Who was that?” Santana’s voice was accusatory and Sebastian found no fault in her for doing that. It was times like these where he wished that Jesse wasn’t out in England for a couple of months. He was the only one who enjoyed Hunter. He came across as smarmy and given Sebastian’s lifestyle and upbringing it said a lot. Still, at this point, they’d known each other so long it was only mildly grating. He watched Hunter give Santana a bland smile. 

“That was a prospective client.” 

“Oh... is that code for a hooker, who I'm going to pay so I can cheat on my wife?” Sebastian bit his lip so he didn’t laugh. 

“Fuck you, Satan. I can talk to a woman. It doesn’t have to be like that.” He had a point. Kurt never got upset when he talked to single gays, granted he had nothing to worry about but still. Santana could talk to a million other single women and her wife would never even consider getting upset or thinking it could be anything more than a simple conversation. 

“No, absolutely not.” Hunter nodded at him in gratitude for the solidarity. 

“If you cheat on my girl, Q, I will light you on fire.” 

“Jesus fucking Christ. Relax, Santana.” 

“Just drive, Fievel.” 

Fuck tonight was going to suck. He sighed as he headed out of the parking lot and just hoped his Angel was having a far better night than he was. It was times like these when he was really  happy, they’d never gotten married. Seven years together and they were still going strong. Marriage... seemed like a fucking Joke, not that he would ever say that in front of Santana, he liked his balls attached to his body but it seemed like such a stupid fucking hassle and it seemed to just fuck up perfectly good relationships. 

He’d never understood why people wanted to ruin a good thing. 

He only needed Kurt by his side for the rest of his life and he was fine, he didn’t need the fluff and frills and whatever else. 

* * *

He was exhausted by the time he got back home. He opened the door and Kurt was sprawled on the sofa watching a movie. It was clear he’d had an early night given that he was dressed in some super old shirt that had belonged at one point to Sebastian. He was a welcome sight to see. 

“Hey, Angel.” Kurt looked over at him and smiled at him. 

“Hey.” Sebastian walked over and bent down to kiss him on his head, before making his way toward the Kitchen. 

“How are you doing, Baby?” 

“Good.” 

“Yeah?” 

“Yeah, I just got off the phone,” Sebastian hummed to let him know he was paying attention as he carefully found room in the fridge for the cheesecake, he’d brought home for Kurt, who somehow managed to not noticed his surprise, “Yeah, with my brother.” 

“Which one? And how is he doing?” Sebastian looked through his beers before settling on one. 

“Finn. He’s getting married.” Sebastian tensed as the cap from his bottle popped off. 

Fuck. Kurt was the youngest of his brothers but he was also the most emotionally and mentally mature. It didn’t help that Sebastian knew Kurt loved the idea of marriage and weddings. He’d planned all their friend’s wedding and his other brother, Sam's wedding. He'd designed the dresses for Santana, Brittney, and Quinn and he’d designed the Tuxes for Elliot and Jesse. Sebastian wasn’t blind, he knew his boyfriend poured over wedding magazines and was considering one day opening up another label for just wedding gowns and suits. 

This beer was probably not going to cut it. 

“Really?” 

“Yep.” 

“That’s great.” 

“You really think that’s great?” He knew he had to tread lightly here, but he wasn’t going to budge on this topic. He was just lucky Kurt had never really pushed him on it. He hoped tonight wouldn’t be the night he did. God, and he’d been so excited to come home and just be with the love of his life. 

“Yeah, Lilah seems like a great girl.” He pulled the fridge back open so he could hack into the cheesecake and get some in front of Kurt. He heard Kurt’s fingers tapping on the remote. 

“So, you think it’s great that they’re getting married but you don’t ever feel like we are going against nature or something... by not doing it? It took so long for us to even be able to do it.” Sebastian sighed before grabbing the plate and his beer and turning to walk toward his beautiful boyfriend who was watching him. Original Kitten face on full display. 

“ _ No _ . I think it was going against nature when I saw that video, the one of the kittens suckling from that dog. I'm still scarred by that just so you know,” He set the cheesecake down in front of Kurt before sliding sitting down next to him, “You and I are just two people who happen to not be married. Look, Kitten let me tell you something, People who get married are not to be trusted.” He took it as a good sign when Kurt laughed. 

“You are  _ so  _ _ weird _ .” 

“No. I'm serious, listen to me if they were so legitimately happy, honestly they wouldn’t feel the need to put on a big show and have a contract for their relationship. It's for insecure people and because it’s what they think they are supposed to do and they end up lying to themselves and others.” Kurt was only slightly amused and more guarded than anything 

“Look at our friends, all these great people we are close to... do you ever feel the urge to go write a check to the state of New York for a friendship certificate?” Kurt’s smile was brittle and he sliced into the cheesecake with his fork. 

“No, yeah. You’re right. I completely get that.” 

“I just don’t think it should be any different, with me and you. You get that right? We’re happy and I'm still madly in love with you and committed to you and we have an amazing life.” 

“You’re right.” Sebastian looked at the fact the cheesecake was already nearly gone and Kurt wasn’t even looking up at him and felt awful. He hated it when Kurt was unhappy. He wasn’t lying, he didn’t believe in marriage but he would be lying on his death bed still in love with Kurt and he knew it. 

“I think we can just stay happy,” Kurt looked up and nodded at him. Sebastian smiled; Kurt was always reasonable. He'd grown into himself so beautifully. Sebastian pulled his feet into his lap and started massaging one. He pressed firmly in the spot he knew would get the reaction he was looking for. 

Bingo. 

Kurt’s eyes fluttered and his whole body seemed to go boneless, but it was the mewl that always got to him. Kurt looked at him with heavy-lidded eyes and Sebastian could cut glass he was so hard. He shifted in his seat and Kurt’s other foot made just enough contact with him that his mouth dropped open and his hand made his way up Kurt's thigh rubbing in circles. Kurt’s hand pulled his higher so Sebastian could squeeze his inner thigh. Seven years and he could confidently say that his Kitten was still the hottest thing he’d ever seen. He often wondered if he was going to get away with never needing Viagra. 

“You want to go to bed, baby?” Kurt bit his lip and nodded. Sebastian was up in seconds lifting Kurt off the couch and palming his ass, rushing them toward the bedroom.

* * *

Kurt was sat as his office at vogue, Quinn and Elliot were making eyes at him because the new intern Chandler was hanging around and while he was could be nice, he was also a mess. Every time Chandler’s eyes weren’t on them, they motioned for him to get over there and help them. It was hilarious but he had so many emails he had to return and he still needed to talk to Anna and Isabelle and ask if they thought a capsule collection with Target was a good idea. He didn’t produce that many collections yet, his label while new was a lot to juggle with Vogue. 

When Quinn made a motion that  swore she would kill him, he sighed, left his chair, and racked his brain on how he could distract them. He hoisted himself up onto Elliot’s desk and he could feel Chandler’s eyes trace along the length of his body, and that was another reason he hadn’t wanted to help. Chandler was obviously into him which was fine, but it was annoying. Kurt knew he was attractive; he’d stayed vigilant with his skincare routine so he looked about as young as Chandler was and Sebastian never stopped letting him know how beautiful he was. The problem was Chandler was in his early twenties and clearly didn’t believe too hard in the sanctity of other people's relationships as much as he wanted one of his own, which Kurt knew he’d been prattling on about. He heard him whining about someone possibly ghosting him and questioning what even constituted as ghosting. 

“Help. I'm in hell. I really don’t know what I should say to Anna and Isabelle about the target collab. I really want their input before I make a decision.” 

“Must be so difficult being the chosen one.” Kurt threw a smirk over at Quinn. 

“I don’t know how you do it all. How am I supposed to focus when I can’t tell if Jake, my  _ soulmate _ , is ghosting me?” Kurt honestly didn’t care much about it because again frankly it didn’t seem like anyone could be his soulmate when he felt he was entitled to mentally undress him every chance he got. it also pissed him off that he slacked so much at work because of it. Even at his messiest time,  Kurt was still a Rockstar at work. Still, he thought, maybe if I helped that would stop. 

“You know, maybe you should take charge of your life. You have to decide if he’s honestly worth all this. Chances are he’s  _ probably  _ not. So, live your life like he doesn’t exist. If he wants to make it  happen, he will.” 

“Wow, a throwback with that advice. I love it. Makes me feel young again.” Kurt grinned and ruffled El’s hair. 

“Well, that wise person couldn’t get it all wrong, Starchild. Some things are timeless.” 

“Someone is feeling extra sentimental today.” Kurt’s smile softened and before he could answer Quinn a line of people started into the area. 

“Hey, Kurt!” Kurt’s smiled stretched out so far, his cheeks hurt. 

“Hi, Nick. I see he went all out and is putting you to work.” Nick nodded at him made a motion to the men behind him. 

“Oh yeah. Enough that it didn’t make sense for me to do more than one trip. He just paid to get more people to help me deliver it. Where do you want it all?" 

“Over here, I'll just make my friends help me carry it all into the office once I've had my chance to show it all off.” Nick just laughed and brought over the first large square suede box; he gently pulled the lid off to show around 49 baby blue roses that Kurt knew would live until next year when he was sure to get replacements. The card on it read, ‘I’m always trying to find something to match your eyes and I never manage to find anything that compares. These roses while lovely, pale in comparison to your beauty’. 

The next gift was of course a beautiful arrangement of black orchids, and that card read simply, ‘Where would we be without orchids?’ 

The third gift was a much small box and gold in color. Inside it housed one single truffle on a bed of sugar pearls, Kurt immediately knew he shouldn’t google it to find the price and when he looked at the card he laughed because it said at much, ‘I love you more and more every day, I never know how it's possible to love you this much. P.S. do not look up the prices for any of this, you will murder me.’ He could hear chandler in the background hissing at Quinn because he was so confused. The other two just watched as it all unfolded. they were used to the fanfare. 

Nick brought the final box over it was tiny, clearly jewelry but too large to be one he desperately wanted to get. Still, his breath caught in his throat when he opened it. It was a vintage tiffany’s broach. A delicate bouquet of gold posies. It was beautiful. Nick handed him his card which said, “Brighter days are always ahead with you by my side but I figured I still had to try to beat the 7-year itch. I hope you love everything as much as I love you. How do you feel about heading to Bali this year?” 

“As always we’ve already been paid and tipped.  _ Please _ , don’t try to tip us again, we feel guilty enough with how much he gives us,” Nick’s face was stern as he told Kurt that, “You have a good day, Kurt. I'm sure I'll see you soon.” 

“Thank you, Nick, and thank you guys for coming up and helping him.” 

“ _ Stop _ ! Do not thank us. I see you so often you may as well be family. My own mother asks about you.” Kurt chuckled just chuckled and waved as they left. 

“Ugh, I forgot it was golden day,” Quinn grouched while El just laughed. 

“Golden day? You mean it’s not just a regular Tuesday?” Quinn’s lip quirked up in amusement. 

“Leave it to Sebastian make every other guy look like trash.” Kurt just rolled his eyes. It was true though; he couldn’t deny it so he didn’t even attempt to. 

“Keep your negativity away from my flowers, I won’t let you taint them.” 

“ _ Hello _ ? What the hell is golden day? Oh my God, is he getting  _ proposed  _ to?” there was a tone of jealousy in Chandler’s voice but that wasn’t why Kurt winced. 

“No. Golden day is what these two punks call my anniversary, not that Sebastian ever needs a reason to spoil me.” the other two snorted at that and Kurt beamed. It was true. His boyfriend  _ loved  _ to spoil him. He showered him with gifts and praise and attention all the time. It was wild because he absolutely  _ hated  _ it if Kurt tried to give him a gift and it wasn’t because he didn’t have a taste for what Sebastian would like. He’d just grown to be simple about his wants and most it was centered around Kurt. Touching him, spoiling him just being around him. It was great. He was sure they looked codependent or grandiose, which made Sebastian’s comments about marriage sting all the more, but they weren’t. They had a really strong stable relationship with two people who were independent and successful. 

“I forgot you’ve never met Sebastian or seen them together. Probably a good thing, sometimes it like watching a fire ignite. Super-hot and super uncomfortable if you aren’t used to it.” Quinn nodded emphatically at Elliot’s commentary but Chandler just looked skeptical. Funny from a kid who thinks the guy who ghosted him is his soulmate. 

“Wow, how many years have you been together?” 

“Today is lucky number 7.” It almost didn’t feel real because Sebastian had been saying they’d been together for 7 years for months already. 

“Huh... but he’s not proposing?” Kurt pursed his lips and out of the corner of his eye, he knew Quinn and El were exchanging looks. They knew it was a touchy subject for him and damn it if he didn’t want that to ruin today. He could live without marriage. His partner was... unreal. Kurt was lucky. Sebastian spent most of his time on Kurt, willingly and he was the one who got grouchy about having to be away from him for a few hours. His boyfriend was hard-working and stable and even though he was wealthy he was humble and down to earth. He mostly just wanted to spend money on Kurt and lavish him in love and attention. Kurt didn’t want to think too much about what it meant that he didn’t want to marry him. 

“No,” once again he felt those eyes trace over his body and he wanted to scream because did Chandler  _ really  _ think he had a chance after the display his partner just put on? Kurt touched one of the soft petals of the orchids. A staple gift he received fairly often. Kurt picked up the broach and chocolate and walked toward his office as he asked them to help him bring the flowers over. It was mostly to punish Chandler with the task of carrying the heavier load in. 

He looked at the two photos on his desk, a couple of candid shots that Sebastian’s older brother, Jourdan had taken. They were lovely, one was a black and white image of them napping together on a couch, with Sebastian curled protectively around him and the other was an image of Sebastian with a lovestruck look on his face. It was easy to figure out who he’d been staring at. It was one of his favorite things to look at. It turned him into mush when he saw the same love, he held reflected back at him. He knew Sebastian had a similar set at his office, but with one of Kurt doing a more lovesick variation of the infamous Kitten face. Seven years and they were still helplessly in love, it was kind of sick. Their fire constantly burned bright and Kurt wondered if they would ever drop into that feeling of settling as he saw with Quinn and Hunter or El and Jesse. He hoped not. 

Kurt knew Chandler was still looking at him as he dialed Bastian’s number. 

“I crave your mouth, your voice, your hair. Silent and starving, I prowl through the streets. Bread does not nourish me. Dawn disrupts me, all day I hunt for the liquid measure of your steps.” Kurt’s heart skipped a beat. 

“Pablo Neruda. You spoil me too much.” Sebastian hummed a non-committal sound. 

“I think I don’t spoil you  _ enough _ .” Kurt laughed. 

“That is the biggest lie you’ve ever told.” 

“You are my own personal Helen of Troy. I thankfully don’t have any wars to win, but I'll happily lay worship at your feet any day,” Kurt’s breath caught, “Happy Anniversary, Kitten. Did you like everything?” 

“Yes, Sir.” Sebastian let out a hiss on the other side and Kurt felt a little smug. 

“Sweetheart, don’t be cruel. I'm stuck at work, without you until Snixx can come in.” 

“I'm sorry...  _ Daddy _ ,” Kurt relished in teasing him, it was probably one of his favorite past times and this time was no different, he felt on top of the world when he heard Sebastian’s sharp inhale. 

“You are in for it tonight... Be a good boy and  _ stop  _ teasing me.” Kurt laughed happily. 

“I’m looking forward to it... and I suppose it won’t kill me to be good for you.” Sebastian’s chuckle was a little filthy. 

“I'm sure you are and as much as I'd  _ love  _ to keep this conversation going, I'm at work and you aren’t available for some much-needed release, so I have to change the topic if I want to survive the rest of the day without you. Thoughts on dinner, and Bali?” 

“We aren’t going  _ anywhere  _ for Dinner. You won’t let me buy you anything without throwing a fit so I'm making you a feast. It's been planned for weeks so you can cancel any reservation you made. We can go to Carbone another time and you can’t  _ possibly  _ think I'd say anything other than yes to Bali.” There was a long pause. 

“First of all, you’re the fussy one baby, not me. Secondly... how the  _ fuck  _ did you know the reservation was for Carbone?” Kurt grinned because he knew Sebastian felt a little grouchy about him knowing his plans. 

“What can I say? We’ve been together seven years it’s getting a little predictable Bas.” He almost felt bad teasing him because he could just see his partner’s mouth dropped open in disbelief. 

“ _ Predictable _ ? I was betting on lucky number 7, should I have predicted the 7-year itch instead? I want you to feel like its magic every damn day. Guess I  gotta up my game.” 

“Don’t you dare. Bas, I do feel like it’s magic every day with you, but we know each other like the back of our hands. I happen to like a little predictability. It feels solid. I knew it was Carbone because they have my favorite pasta and I've been eating a lot of Italian food lately and you could be an international intelligence operative which how much you notice.” 

“Don’t be silly, you work way harder than I do,” Kurt nearly shrieked he was so mad to hear him say that, “Don’t argue with me, also while I could write the book of Kurt, I would never want to be an operative. I'd be away from you too much.” 

“I can’t believe you said that. I do not work harder than you! Your job is grueling and you have to have all the other Family operations to keep up with. Do not ever suggest that you are anything less than one of the hardest working men I've ever met.” 

“ _ Fussy _ . Baby, I'm aware of my past and you’ve worked harder since day one, things came a lot more easily to me than they did you and I don’t feel guilty about it honestly it gives me more money than God and an ability to buy you whatever the fuck I want whenever the fuck I want. But you give Beyonce a run for her money with what you squeeze into a day. It's a little terrifying.” 

“Sebastian, it's our anniversary so I'm not going to fight with you but know that I disagree,  _ immensely _ . Prepare to stuff yourself with food tonight and I think you deserve a nice massage for spoiling me so much, don’t you?” Kurt heard Sebastian let out a low moan at the thought. 

“I’m more than happy to play with you tonight, Pretty Kitty. I think lucky number 7 will hit all the right spots.” 

They hung up the phone and before Kurt got back to work, he trailed his fingers down the length of Sebastian’s picture. He loved him so much it scared him sometimes. 

* * *

Three days later Kurt was seated at his desk barely paying any mind to the mindless chatter that was coming out of Chandler’s mouth, he was in the process of drawing up talks with Tom Ford about his newest collection. He was trying to be nice but it was difficult, he had a lot on his plate, and their new intern wasn’t pulling his weight. 

“Look Chandler, he’s not interested. I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news but that’s the fact. Stop chasing after people who don’t want you. Those stories from all your friends are bullshit. Jake doesn’t want you. He's never going to want you. Stop listening to your friends who all have stories.” Kurt wanted to feel bad but he didn’t for all his chatter, he needed an intern who wanted to do the damn job and who could keep his eyes to himself. 

Chandler’s face was bright red and angry and Kurt knew he was going to lash out before he did. 

“Oh, so when did _you_ stop listening to the stories? I heard Mike finally proposed to his girlfriend after thirteen years. Does it hurt knowing Sebastian doesn’t want that with you? Do you ever wonder if all the over the top shit he sends your way is so you won’t see it coming when he eventually leaves you?” 

Kurt felt it like a dagger going through his heart but he refused to be anything less than poised, so even though he wanted to scream he kept his voice and face even. 

“Get the fuck out of my office and go do your job. Stop wasting everyone’s time including your own. If you don’t get it together, we will have to cancel your internship. There are millions of boys and girls dying to be in your position. When I was your age, I was already being asked to have a full-time position here after I graduated. You might want to consider what will work best in your favor here.” 

Chandler got up from his chair, throwing it around a little. 

“Must be awful not being able to read the signs, Kurt. You might want to take your own advice. Let it die with dignity.” Kurt sighed and decided to try to be a better person and offer one last piece of advice. 

“Chandler, you shouldn’t lay yourself at the feet of someone who doesn’t love you.” 

“You mean like you? Read the room, Kurt. No one buys that all the money he throws at you is love.” With that final comment, he slammed the door to Kurt’s office. Kurt told himself to put it out of his mind and approve some final pages and send out the email to Tom, and to put the finishing touches to some pieces he’d been working on. He mentally gave himself a checklist when a ping from his computer took his attention. It was an email reminder to Kurt from Lilah asking if he’d gotten the time off and would be able to help with the wedding and he’d and Sebastian would be flying back out to Ohio. Kurt hated that it felt like a sign when his heart already felt like it was in his stomach and his throat was tight and he wanted to cry. He shook his head and took a sip of his water and got back to work after sending telling Siri to remind him to reply to Lilah tomorrow and to have HR set up a meeting with Chandler when he wasn’t so upset.

* * *

Sebastian smiled when he heard Kurt open the door. 

“Hey, does this look straight to you?” He was standing on a ladder hanging a painting Kurt had looked at a few weeks ago. It was an abstract piece and Kurt had looked at it a few times so Sebastian bought it and it had arrived that day. 

“What are you doing?” 

“Hanging the painting you’d been looking  at; you’ve been wanting me to find something to put on this bare wall for ages and I finally got around to it. Hmm, do you think it should go somewhere else?” He glanced over at Kurt who was walking toward the kitchen table. 

“No, I love it there, but you should stop.” Sebastian looked over at his partner with confusion. He knew Kurt liked the painting, it wasn’t something he’d been giggling over because he thought it was hideous and he double-checked with Quinn before he’d purchased it. 

“Why? Does it look weird? Should we turn it on its side? It might look a little depressing; at this angle,  it sort of looks like a deflate-” 

“No, I just need you to stop being so nice, stop buying me all these things and just stop it.” At first, Sebastian thought he was going somewhere kinky with it but then he just got confused. 

Sebastian got pulled the painting down and got off the ladder and watched as Kurt started undoing his buttons on the sleeves of his shirt. 

“This feels like a trap.” 

“Nope.” Kurt’s inflection was flat and Sebastian was genuinely stumped. He didn’t normally have a hard time reading him. 

“No?” 

“No. I just need you to stop being so damn nice to me unless you plan to eventually marry me.” Sebastian’s eyes tried to pop right out of his head, he hadn’t been anticipating this. He let out a nervous chuckle. 

“I’m not trying to be funny.” This wasn’t good, this was  _ angry  _ Kurt, this was  _ hurt  _ Kurt, he looked oddly similar to the man who’d stormed out of his apartment over seven years ago after their first kiss and fight. 

“No, I guess it isn’t funny.” Oh, fuck,  _ wrong  _ word choice his inner voice berated. 

“You can’t keep being so nice and I can’t keep pretending this is something that it's not.” This was really bad. Sebastian was oddly calm for being panicked. Was this what disassociation felt like? This felt like a  fucked-up dream. Kurt was looking at him for a response and when none came, he continued. 

“We’ve been together for over seven years, Sebastian. You know me, you know who I am, better than anyone. You either want to marry me or you don’t.” Sebastian swiped a hand across his face and got closer to his very prickly boyfriend. 

“Or... there is the distinct possibility that I mean it when I say I just don’t believe in marriage.” Sebastian looked his partner in the face, he looked so tired and like he’d been crying earlier and his heart ached to see it but right now he knew his own face was pleading with Kurt to understand. 

“Bullshit! I think that’s bullshit. Bullshit for everyone who has ever stuck around with someone who said they don’t believe in marriage only to see them marry someone else 10 months later. It’s bullshit.” Sebastian didn’t even know what damage control there was here. There was so much to unpack in that statement but he wasn’t exactly calm enough to see all the warning signs on the road right now. 

“Where is this even coming from?” Sebastian had never seen this side of his boyfriend, there were no signs that this was coming, he’d always been so reasonable. There wasn’t any reason to be anything but reasonable. Kurt had walked away and was at the bar cart and he’d made himself a dirty martini. Sebastian knew it was bad and this was going to be a big one when saw that. There was no dodging this bullet. Kurt never drank dirty martini’s, he liked it when Sebastian made him pretty drinks that tasted like sparkles and candy and Sebastian liked making him those drinks because as Kurt liked to say he got a little slutty when he drank them. They both loved it. 

“From a place I've been hiding from you for about five years now. Five years because I don’t want to seem demanding. I have no right to be demanding when all you do is spoil me. What right did I have to ask for anything? Lord knows I haven’t wanted to seem clingy or demanding or desperate. I didn’t want to be that boy you met all those years ago, the thought of it horrifies me and makes me want to crawl into a hole and die a little. So, I haven’t asked you and I pretend it doesn’t bother me or make me feel insecure but it does and... I have to ask you. Are you ever going to marry me?” Sebastian felt terrible because he never saw any of that in Kurt and he wanted to defend that beautiful boy he’d met all those years ago and he wanted to be able to give Kurt the answer he wanted but he felt frozen. He never wanted marriage. The longer he stood there staring at his sweet wonderful Kitten trying to find the words to say anything the worse he looked. His eyes got glossy with tears and his body slumped on itself. Eventually, Kurt was the one to break the silence and Sebastian felt unrooted. 

“I can’t do this anymore.” it was muttered so softly Sebastian wondered if he could pretend, he hadn’t heard it. If he didn’t hear it, then it wasn’t real. Kurt walked over to their bedroom and closed the door behind him and he knew no amount of pretending would make this stop being real. He just stood there unable to believe this was really happening. His world had just ended.

So much for dodging the 7-year itch.

* * *

Sam hissed again as Kurt accidentally stuck him with a needle. 

“Well, stop moving around. I need to finish this fitting.” both his brothers and their partners were in the room with him and Lilah’s best friend a really annoying over the top girl named Rachel. 

“Why are you getting so frantic about it?” Kurt glared up at his other brother and the tone he used was sweet if a little venomous. 

“Because you and Lilah only gave me two weeks to make all the dresses and tuxes. It's not like I have a lot on my plate or anything.” Lilah wasn’t even paying attention; she was drinking yet another white claw and Finn just looked at him in confusion. 

“You offered to help.” that had Kurt muttering under his breathe about helping vs. Doing everything. He would have appreciated it if they didn’t just expect him to do everything and if Sam would stop fucking around with Finn while he was trying to fit these damn pants. Kurt took a deep breath and tried to stay pleasant. 

“So, what’s the rush to get married so fast anyway?” Kurt was honestly curious. He and Lilah hadn’t been together even a full year and they’d only just announced the engagement recently. He knew Lilah wouldn’t answer him, she was still a little annoyed at him for the break up because Finn had intended on making Sebastian another groom's man out of respect for Kurt so when the split happened, she had to cut off one of her friends from being a bridesmaid. Kurt thought she needed to grow up; he also thought she might be pregnant. 

“Well, Lilah really likes the season and it seemed silly to wait a whole year to do it.” Kurt was skeptical. Definitely pregnant he thought and he wasn’t the least bit surprised she was drinking even if she was. Amazingly he was not the one to voice it. It was Rachel’s shrill voice that rang out. 

“Oh my god, you are so pregnant!” Kurt would have laughed at the yelp that Finn let out over that if he didn’t think someone would kill him. All eyes were on Lilah. 

“I’m not  _ fucking  _ pregnant. Stop looking at me like that. We're in love,  you assholes and that’s what people do when they’re in love. They get married,” there was a huge pause and suddenly Kurt felt the eyes of everyone on him, it hadn’t even stung when she said it and now it was going to get ugly. It was clear she felt guilty because she was suddenly backtracking. 

“Not everybody... gets married. There are tons of people who never get married." Everybody winced. She would have phrased it better without all the white claws he was certain, he just cleared his throat. 

“Lilah just meant that she thinks it's fine that you broke up with Sebastian.” Kurt nodded. He was just grateful this had made Sam freeze long enough to do some real work on the suit. Mercedes his sister in law was sitting quietly as well and she looked at him with kindness and not pity and he felt just a bit better. 

“Tons of people make the choice to be alone Kurt and are somehow happy. I'm sure you’ll be one of them,” Kurt wanted to ram his foot down Rachel’s throat, she was the worst, “Look at Al Pacino! He’s never been married and he’s happy as a clam.” Kurt hadn’t known it was possible for her to be more unbearable but she’d proven him wrong. 

“Are you saying that he’s Al Pacino?” Finn looked like he was ready to argue that he was Al Pacino if Rachel said yes and he knew Sam would get in on it if it went down that way. Thankfully Mercedes was the one to speak next 

“ _ No _ ... look we just want you to be happy Kurt.” 

“Well, then maybe Lilah should have rethought the coral.” the tension cracked and everyone was laughing. 

“But seriously guys, I'll be fine. I've gone through breakups before. So, please don’t worry about me. I'm  _ fine _ .” Everyone nodded if a bit grimly. But not one like this, he knew that’s what they were all thinking. The shitty thing was that they were right, but he would never admit the loss of Sebastian felt like the loss of a limb or vital organ. 

* * *

Sebastian was out with Hunter on his boat that he was currently living on. He’d forced the apartment on Kurt insisting he wouldn’t have him trying to find a new place, unable to bear the thought of him having one more overwhelming thing on his plate. The boat also served as a liminal space; its existence made it all a little less awful. He could pretend the ache in his chest wasn’t real, and that the love of his life hadn’t ended things because Sebastian couldn’t even be man enough to speak an answer out loud. 

He wished Santana was here so it wasn’t just him and Hunter but as much as she tried to be supportive of him, she was pissed off at him for losing Kurt, swung back and forth over the whole mess and he knew being around Hunter and his pretty shit tier treatment of Quinn would only lobby her firmly in one direction. God, he wanted to murder Jesse for still being away. 

“Did Quinn send you over to me so she can keep tabs on me?” 

“Pretty fucking much.” Lovely. He wondered if she ever relayed the info to Kurt. She probably didn’t, it was honestly more so that she could know he was suffering. He watched as Hunter took another swig of his beer. Great, it was like being a stranded baby sitter. 

“Awesome, what are you going to tell her?” 

“I’ll tell her how gorgeous you look out here on the ocean.” They grinned at each other. He actually liked Hunter when he wasn’t after something. He wanted to let the moment last but he was only so strong. 

“Any word from Kurt?” He knew he came off as the opposite of nonchalant. Hunter sighed and looked down. 

“You know... he’s so busy organizing his brother’s funeral and everything, I think he must be-” Sebastian thought he was going to have a heart attack. 

“His brother’s  _ what _ ?” Hunter just looked at him like he was insane. 

“Wedding. His brother’s wedding,” Sebastian choked on his laughter a combination of relief and genuine mirth, “Isn’t that what I said?” 

“ _ No _ ! You said funeral.” there was a small grain of chastisement in his tone but Hunter just gave him a look like he was nuts. 

“No, I didn’t." 

“Yes.  _ Yes, you did _ .” 

“Well, fuck. Did I really? That's so weird.” Sebastian gave him a look but was hoping his friend could give him some insight. 

“You know, I don’t understand why people want to get married.” He hoped there would be some insight that clicked in his head that Hunter would say but he just sighed. 

“They don’t.” It felt like a bucket of ice water running over him. That wasn’t good, in more ways than one but he had to gauge it because it could also be a point in favor of Sebastian’s particular mindset. 

“They don’t?” 

“No.  _ No _ . No guy actually wants to get married, and if they do all they are thinking about is all the other people they are going to miss out on.” Sebastian thought was the weirdest thing he’d ever heard. That wasn’t even on his list of reasons to not believe in marriage. 

“I don’t want to be with anyone else, I just wanna be with Kurt,” Hunter’s face was incredulous and it gave him a bad feeling and he hoped Hunter wasn’t going to cheat on Quinn, “I don’t know man. Why did you get married?” 

Hunter stared out into the water. 

“I love, Quinn.” Sebastian felt like there was more to what he was saying. 

“So, you’re a happily married guy?” Hunter smiled at him but it looked false in Sebastian’s eyes. 

“Yeah, I'd say so.” Sebastian just nodded and popped open another beer. He hoped it was true, he loved Quinn and he didn’t want Kurt to have one more thing to stress about.

* * *

Lilah’s cousin Jerimiah was at the helm for the toasts that evening and it was the most uncomfortable thing that Kurt had witnessed in a while. He figured it was down to the twelve or so beer he’d had but he didn’t understand how no one else was uncomfortable right from the get-go. 

“Now I know I don’t need to tell any of you that my cousin Lilah is fuc-mmph hot! In high school, if I told any of the popular kids that she was my cousin it kept me from getting my ass kicked because no one was willing to blow their chances with her. You know when she gets up there and makes her marriage vows to Finn, there will be hearts breaking all over the world. It makes sense to me that she’s marrying into the Hummel family. Everyone in town loves and admires the former congressman and his family. Now keep in mind guys the last man available in the dynasty is open for business. He’s a strict rainbow model but I’m sure he had a lot of great miles left in that tank.” Kurt wanted to die, he couldn’t believe this guy was saying that about him and he was kinda giving him the eye. He wished Sebastian was there, both for comfort and love but also security. When Kurt turned to give people some stiff smiles, he made eye contact with his dad who was turning purple in anger. Jeremiah did not seem to come with an automatic off switch and he kept going while Kurt tried to slouch further in his chair as everyone looked at him. 

“Don’t stay on the lot too long Kurt or next year's models will slip right in there and steal all-” 

“Okay, that’s enough with the speeches,” Burt Hummel was giving Jeremiah a hard stare until eventually, the man sat down. Kurt couldn’t believe this was only the rehearsal dinner, “Now let's enjoy the rest of our meals. We have a beautiful spread in front of us it would be a shame to let it get cold.” Kurt took the opportunity to sneak away as soon as his father spoke. 

“Kurt!” he turned to see his father standing just a foot away and he smiled at him. 

“Don’t worry, Buddy. Jeremiah is a jackass but he will never be around for the holidays.” 

“I know. I just don’t know how even  _ he’s  _ married.” Burt chuckled and pulled his youngest son in for a sideways hug and they started walking further away from the festivities. 

“Look, Bud back when everyone else wanted to go to camp at the Y, you grabbed a copy of The New York Times, found an art camp in New York, wrote away for information, got accepted on your own and earned the money for it too. You've never done anything like anybody else.” 

“Why not?” He couldn’t help the grouchy tone filtering through. 

“Because that’s just who you are. It's why you’re my favorite kid." 

“ _ Dad _ ! You're not supposed to say that!” 

“I don’t care! I’m retired, I'll say whatever I want to. Hell, I’ll say it to the whole room if you want me to,” Kurt had been smiling until Burt actually started walking back toward the party. 

“Wait, wait, wait," Kurt ran over and grabbed his arm, “come here.  _ Stop _ . You will not say that to everyone." Burt got a grumpy look on his face. 

“Fine, but it's true though.” Kurt just hugged him tight and led him back into the party with his spirits much higher lifted.

* * *

The next Kurt walked down the aisle as a groomsman with Rachel Berry and he wished there was a quicker way to die. She made a spectacle of herself as she walked down the aisle and he wondered how she was married. She was the most obnoxious self-absorbed woman he’d ever met. She was waving and saying ‘hi’ to people as they made their way down. It was torturous. He thanked Sky Daddy above that he only had to deal with her for the rest of the day. 

When he was sat at his table at the reception drinking champagne, he’d overhead Lilah making comments about Finn having hesitated over his ‘I do’. He rolled his eyes; Finn hadn’t hesitated he just got nervous about his words sometimes. Suddenly an overly gelled hobbit was standing next to him. 

“You must be Kurt.” the shorter man startled Kurt, he was standing too close for comfort. 

“Yeah,” Kurt took another sip of champagne as the guy beamed and started toward the seat next to him. 

“I’ve heard a lot about you from Lilah, I've actually been angling to sit next to her single brother in law for a few weeks.” 

“Oh yeah? So, you must be, ” Kurt had to lean and tilt to head to read the name card, “Blaine?” 

“Sort of, yeah.” Kurt blinked at him. 

“Sort of?” BlaineNotBlaine turned and looked at him very seriously and Kurt gave in to the urge to drink more champagne. 

“I’m part of a coalition of superheroes so I have another name,” Kurt froze unsure of how to react but he nearly choked on his champagne, “It’s Nightbird." The guy kept prattling on and all Kurt thought about was the fact that there was nowhere near enough alcohol for him to be able to endure this and yet he had too. He was so grateful there was a full bottle of champagne at his table as he was going to need it. 

Later still once the dancing portion of the evening was well underway Kurt felt especially grateful that he’d managed to dodge Nightbird and was Dancing with his older cousin Puck. It seemed like the evening was going to end well and soon. 

“So, where is Sebastian?” it had not stopped feeling painful when other people brought him up, especially in the capacity that they didn’t understand how to see one of them without the other. 

“We broke up." He still gave his cousin a small smile. 

“No way!” 

“Yep.” 

“Weren’t guys together for like ten years?” 

“Seven. Still, that’s a long time.” Puck nodded at him. 

“It's too bad that cousins can’t marry because then maybe we could ya know.” Kurt just tried to laugh it off. Men were disgusting, why did love and sex have to exist? This was fucking gross. 

“ _ Ew _ , Puck. that’s so gross.” He tried his best to sound like he’d found it funny even though he hadn’t. The day had been going on for what felt like forever. 

Puck had been about to reply when Kurt noticed broken up sounds and gasps, the other party-goers were also getting quieter. Kurt untangled himself from Puck’s grip and started walking toward the other room, the couple who stood in the entrance walked away and Kurt came face to face with his father kneeling on the floor looking as though he was about to meet the floor. Kurt dashed over to his father’s side just as he fell. 

“ _ Dad _ ! Someone  call 911!  _ Dad _ !  _ DAD _ ! Oh god." Kurt was checking his breathing as his brothers ran over and slid onto the floor with him.

* * *

A week later Kurt was bringing his father the paper cleaning up his breakfast tray to take back to the kitchen. 

“Do you want anything else?” 

“Yeah, no more cardboard and maybe some real food.” Kurt just scoffed. 

“That cardboard is called whole-wheat toast.” Burt sighed and tried to give him puppy dog eyes. 

“Well, maybe you could fry some sausages or even just get me a couple of SlimJims." 

“Amazingly, people who have just had heart attacks  _ aren’t  _ advised to eat animal fat that’s been stuffed into a synthetic casing. Weird right?” Burt pouted as Kurt walked out the door. 

Kurt wanted to murder someone after he got downstairs. His brothers and their wives were also staying at the house and it was like being a teenager again only worse. At least back then, their mother had been alive and it was only two other boys, not two other boys and their useless wives. Kurt started stacking empty, dirty dishes from around the rooms back onto the tray and he walked around. 

Mercedes was laid up in Burt’s recliner when she called out to him, 

“Hey, Kurt could you grab me a white claw and maybe a plate with some tater tots?” Kurt pursed his lips as he walked by but nodded. When he got around the corner, he found the music blaring from his dad’s record machine and Lilah and Rachel were sitting down going through his collection. 

“Hey, can you turn that down, please? My dad is trying to sleep.” They didn’t acknowledge that he’d said anything and Lilah was looking pensively through the collection. 

“Do you think he wants to hang on to all this vinyl? My collection could use a lot of these.” Kurt was running on fumes and anger. 

“Would you just turn it the  _ fuck  _ down?” He could feel Lilah and Rachel glaring into his back but he didn’t care. He passed through the dining room on his way to the kitchen and both of his brothers sat at the table. 

“We are out of toilet paper and the only food we have left is jam and ramen noodles. Oh, and our lovely new sister would like to co-opt Dad’s record property before he’s even dead so if you could work on that Finn, I would really appreciate it.” Kurt moved through the rest of the kitchen tidying up a bit as he went but honestly the place was a wreck. 

“Also, Sam your wife would really like another White Claw for her fifth consecutive hour of the Kardashians,” when Kurt looked over Finn was motioning over to Sam who was finally having his break down over their father, “Dad’s going to be fine I promise.” He hugged his brother tight and was mentally resigned over the fact that everything was still on his shoulders, taking care of his dad, working remotely, taking care of the house, and apparently his four children. 

* * *

It took one text to get Sebastian at the airport and into a plane headed for Ohio. He was glad Quinn had texted him at all but was also furious it had taken her so long. Finding out that Kurt wasn’t back in town or even the state yet because his father had a heart attack sent Sebastian into a tizzy. Burt Hummel was an incredible man and father and someone Sebastian viewed as a father figure himself. 

Sebastian knew Kurt’s brothers and their wives weren’t helping, it wasn’t even that they were going to do it purposely but they relied on Kurt to do everything. They had ever since their mom died. It was a long flight but well worth it. When he landed, he had a bunch of furious texts from Santana until they petered off into understanding, Quinn had obviously tipped her hand about what was going on. 

Sebastian had rented a car and taken it to the grocery store first thing and loaded up on everything the internet would tell him was a good idea he also grabbed any basics he could think of. Better to buy in bulk with the number of people he knew were in the house. 

He was stunned when he got the house. It was a pigsty and it only confirmed his suspicion that Kurt was trying to do everything on his own. He could hear Sam, Finn, and their partners in the living room watching something at high volume. He rubbed his hands together, sighed, and got to work. He’d put all the groceries and other products away before he threw a load of laundry in. He then started on the dishes.

* * *

Sebastian heard someone snap the word ‘what’ just as he was about finished the pile-up of dishes, eventually the soft padded footsteps he recognized were coming his way and pulled his focus and he turned around. 

Kurt looked at him and then over all the things he’d taken care of, his face was overwhelmed, it was a replica of a Kurt seven years younger and sadder making the Kitten face that had stolen Sebastian’s mind, body, soul, and heart. Kurt looked back over at him and his lip was trembling. He looked so confused and tired and Sebastian wished he could tuck him into bed. He felt a tiny bit awkward that he couldn’t and suddenly realized that as helpful as he was trying to be this may not have been what Kurt needed. 

“I just have a little bit more to finish over here, I have a load of laundry I'm going to put away and I have one more about to go into the dryer.” Sebastian was oddly nervous because he hadn’t thought any of this through. He'd gone on instinct; he hadn’t even thought about what it might be like to see Kurt for the first time since he’d moved out of the apartment and how that would play into things. 

Kurt just gripped the handles of the tray he was holding a bit tighter and his eyes looked suspiciously wet. 

“I did get a few things your dad likes but I got everything the internet told me what best for post-heart attack, just so you know.” Kurt seemed to have a small tremor run through his body before he put the tray down on the table. 

It was seconds before he felt Kurt's arms encircle his neck tightly and Sebastian had his arms wrapped around his waist tightly. 

“It’s going to be okay, Kurt. It'll be okay.” Sebastian just tightened his grip and rubbed at Kurt’s back as he felt tears escape onto his neck and shoulder. The sobs he felt wrack the other man's body broke his heart.

Later that night when the rest of them were asleep, they were sitting out on the porch a bottle of tequila sitting between them. After Kurt relayed everything about his dad and his brothers, Sebastian had to take a long drag straight from the bottle. He didn’t know how Kurt was still standing. 

“Fuck. So, it’s just been fucking awful the whole damn time.” Kurt just nodded and rested his head on his knees. 

“Well, shit. Has there been one good thing to happen to you lately?” 

“I’m doing the Target collab.” 

“Holy shi-” Sebastian had started to yell and slapped a hand across his face and Kurt was shaking from silent laughter, “Holy shit, that’s amazing.” Kurt was blushing and he had a bashful smile on his face. 

“I found out a couple of days ago that we were definitely moving ahead with it.” 

“That’s fucking incredible. I'm so fucking proud of you, holy fucking shit.” Kurt just hummed back at him in response and just stared shyly down at the wood of the porch. Sebastian was a little sad he was so reserved; it was obvious he hadn’t gotten any praise or support it a while. 

“Santana has been texting me, giving me all sorts of details... so a third restaurant is in the works? It's  _ officially  _ happening.” 

“Yeah it is, I found a great spot in Soho and it's gonna be a cool little hipster set up. I think it’ll work really well there. Very artsy and down to earth.” 

“Well, you make magic with what you do. I'm sure you are going to kick SoHo’s ass. But I'll still have to make an appearance and make sure your cocktails are still up to snuff.” 

“So other than everything that happened with your dad, how was the wedding? Do you think Lilah is pregnant?” Sebastian was serious when he asked so he had no idea why Kurt was suddenly giggling so hard. 

“Well, to start with it was a shit show from beginning to end, but also, Lilah  _ insists  _ she's not pregnant and she has been drinking a shit ton of white claws... but I still have my suspicions.” 

Sebastian kicked his foot out to tap Kurt’s. 

“You can’t tell me it was a shit show and not tell me anything.” Kurt stuck his tongue out at him. 

“Well... they gave me two weeks to get all of the dresses and tuxes done,” Sebastian winced, he could only envision how stressed out he must have been, “there were a few speeches I'm not going to get into but do you want grossest parts of the whole thing?” Sebastian gave him a flat stare, he couldn’t even believe he’d asked him that. 

“Well, to start with, a hobbit-sized man who is convinced he’s a superhero named Nightbird wouldn’t leave me alone and propositioned me to be both his boyfriend  _ and  _ sidekick.” Sebastian just stared at him before taking a double shot and pouring the same for Kurt. He watched as Kurt chuckled before downing it. 

“That’s not the worst one.” 

“ _ No _ . No, you’re fucking with me now.” Kurt shook his head emphatically at him. 

“I’m not.  _ Puck _ .” Sebastian grimaced already knowing he didn’t want to hear what came next. 

“ _ No _ . He  _ didn’t _ .” 

“Oh, he did. Told me it was too bad cousins couldn’t get married because then we could ‘y’ know’. In my head, I was like first of all if you're going to be this gross and bold might as well just say fuck. I was so squicked out and then my dad was on the ground so I didn’t even really process it.” 

“Jesus fucking Christ. Your cousin is sick.” Kurt nodded at him and took his own pull from the bottle. 

“One very sick puppy.” There was a comfortable silence but Sebastian couldn’t let it stand, there was a question burning his throat. 

“Why didn’t you call me?” Kurt didn’t make eye contact just bit his lip and shook his head a little before nervously fiddling at his shirt sleeve. 

“It’s not my place to bug you anymore. You have enough on your plate and it's not your job to deal with my shit, anymore.” Sebastian’s heart ached. It would always be his job. He wanted it to always be his job. 

“Kit- _ Kurt _ , you are still important to me. I still care about  you; it wasn’t too long ago that I was your best friend. You can still come to me about things. I  _ want  _ you to come to me about things.” Kurt’s eyes were red and glossy a tell-tale sign he’d probably had enough to drink. His stare was flat and his voice was firm. 

“You’re living on a boat because of me.” 

“I’m living on a boat because of  _ me _ , and I have my reasons.” Kurt raised a skeptical brow and just took another shot. 

“I’m gonna have such a bad hangover tomorrow.” Sebastian grinned at him. 

“It’s a good thing I bought a shit load of Alka-Seltzer isn’t it?” 

“I don’t remember the last time I was hungover.” Sebastian laughed. 

“I do, we had a lot of fun the night before. You very demanding, very fussy, told me I needed to tell you that you were pretty and call you angel.” Sebastian had a shiver of want run through him at the thought but ignored it. He hadn’t thought about it when he said it, hadn’t considered how inappropriate it was to bring that up. Kurt was wide-eyed and staring at the ground, silent for a moment before he cleared his throat. 

“Thank you for coming, I was... really overwhelmed.” Kurt’s eyes were a little teary when he looked back at him and it was just one more knife in his chest. 

“ _ Anytime _ .”

* * *

Kurt had finally found his boat. Sebastian was laid out on the deck, eyes closed and relaxing under the sunlight. He was beautiful. When he got closer to the boat the sound of his shoes must have roused him because suddenly Sebastian was looking at him in sharp confusion. 

“Hey,” his tone wasn’t unhappy just surprised Kurt was happy to note. 

“Hey.” Sebastian hopped up and walked over, spread his arms out to show off the boat. 

“Well, welcome aboard.” 

“Might I come aboard?” 

“Yeah, of course,” Sebastian helped pull him onto the boat, “You remember the boat.” Kurt chuckled. 

“Well, uh-to be honest, I thought I did.” Sebastian grinned over at him and Kurt hated this he blushed so easily. 

“It’s been a while,” Sebastian said in good humoring, shrugging it off. 

“You know that dock over there? The one on the other side, well it has a boat that looks just like yours.” 

Sebastian hummed in response. 

“It’s not your boat.” Sebastian laughed at him. 

“No. Not my boat.” 

“ _ Definitely  _ not your boat, but there is a very nice older man living on the boat and he offered me a white wine spritzer. So, at least we know I still have prospects.” Sebastian gave a nice belly laugh as they moved to sit down. 

“Well, good. I'm sorry it’s a little messy, I wasn’t expecting anyone.” Kurt waved him off. 

“Don’t be silly, but um-I wanted to come by and thank you again for helping me the other day. It meant a lot. Last time I said it, I was still drunk off my ass.” 

“Kurt, I'm still the same person. I'll always help you. I would do...  _ anything  _ for you.” Kurt heard the unspoken ‘I love you’ and his heart swelled up happily. Sebastian looked at him earnestly and kept speaking. 

“I’m sorry that I just can’t give you what you want.” Kurt shook his head at him. 

“ _ You’re  _ what I want. Our life together is what I want. I miss it. I miss  _ you _ . I miss you like I'm missing my heart. You saw my brothers and their wives. You are more of a partner to me not being married than either of those marriages are ever going to be and... it’s  _ enough _ . It's really enough for me. If you’ll have me back that is.” Sebastian looked stunned and Kurt’s heart was so full looking at him. 

“You're willing to take the whole marriage thing off the table?  _ Completely _ ?” Kurt nodded his head firmly and took Sebastian’s hands into his own. 

“If you promise to commit to me, and to love me, and-” 

“ _ I already have! _ ” 

“I’m not done.” Sebastian jerked back at his firm tone. 

“Okay. Alright, go ahead,” Sebastian couldn’t help himself though, “ _ I’ve loved you for seven years- _ ” Kurt pressed his fingers to Sebastian’s mouth. 

“You have to take the spiders outside and not kill them; you know it makes sad when I think about it being dead. You  _ know  _ that happens.” Sebastian chuckled and nodded. 

“You have to let me eat cheesecake in bed, you  _ have  _ to give me that.” Sebastian’s eyes were sparkling at him. 

“Okay, fine. You can eat all the cheesecake in the world in bed, Kitten. Anything else?” 

Kurt hummed and thought out it. 

“I think that’s it.” Sebastian barely let him finish before he was kissing him. Two kisses in and Kurt was on his lap. 

“Can I come home now?” Kurt stared into his beautiful green eyes. 

“Yes,” Kurt couldn’t resist kissing him again and then touched his hands to the pants his partner was wearing, “but these can’t come.” 

Sebastian looked baffled. 

“My pants can’t come home? Why?” Kurt gave him another kiss. 

“That’s correct, they can’t come home. I know you bought them while we’ve been apart because there is  _ no  _ _ way  _ those lived in our home. There is no way they were in your wardrobe. You just won a  _ big  _ battle, my love, they are not coming home, so come on.” Sebastian looked down at his pants and shrugged. 

“So, we aren’t getting married but I have to get rid of my pants?” Kurt smiled and tapped him on the nose. 

“Mm-hmm. We both win.” Kurt played with the hair at the nape of his neck because he knew how to play dirty. 

“Okay, fair enough. I'll get rid of them. Let's go home.” 

“Change first.” Sebastian threw back his head and laughed and Kurt felt like he was already home hearing it.

* * *

Sebastian walked through the apartment with his final box of stuff and looked around. His shit was everywhere, and Kurt sat on the couch folding some of his laundry from the last load. 

“ _ Amazing _ , how did all this shit fit in here before?” Kurt gave him a small grin and he folded yet another shirt. 

“It does seem like it just expanded and exploded right? Oh! Heads up, Quinn called me, she and Hunter are divorcing, he cheated and she threw him out, so just be prepared for  _ that  _ phone call.” Sebastian making a  tisking sound as he sat down next to Kurt and just watched him waiting for the moment to happen. It didn’t take long before Kurt was staring at him amusement written on his face. 

“You are  _ not  _ trying to sneak these back in here,” Kurt shook the offending pants in Sebastian’s direction. 

“I don’t think we need to get rid of them,” Sebastian playfully tried to reach for them only for Kurt to pull them away. 

“ _ We had a deal _ _!  _ They are not staying,” Kurt got off the couch the pants in his hand. 

“You know, they store really well, you can lay-” 

“ _ Sebastian _ ! Goodwill wouldn’t even take these!” Sebastian watched his partner get closer to the trash. 

“At least check the pockets before you throw them out. Who knows what I might have left in them.” 

Sebastian snuck up behind Kurt as he saw him rifling through the pockets before pulling out a jewelry box and opening it up to find a lovely white gold band with the most delicate carving inlay. Sebastian was beaming when Kurt turned around in confusion to find him down on one knee. 

“I love you, so much.  _ So much _ ,” It was true and Sebastian had lied awake at night holding Kurt in his arms thinking about that love, thinking about how it would kill him if something happened to either one of them like it happened to Burt and they weren’t the ones to be through the door first, that someone would ever see the love they had for each other as lesser than because it wasn’t legal under a state, “I want to spend the rest of my life making you happy. I  _ need  _ to make you happy if I want a shot at being happy myself. Will you marry me?” 

Kurt’s eyes were full of tears and he stared at this ring and then back at Sebastian. 

“ _ Yes _ , of course.  _ Yes _ , I will marry you. Oh my- are you sure? You never wanted this. I don’t want to push you into something.” 

Sebastian got up and slid the band on Kurt’s finger. 

“I’m sure. It's white gold. I remembered your allergy to silver, but I know you prefer that color on your skin. I also know you’d have killed me if I spent that much on platinum. I figured there is no greater symbol for us than an orchid so that’s why that’s the carv-” Kurt pressed his hand to his mouth. 

“You’re rambling. I  _ love  _ you. I love you so much sometimes I don’t understand how I can house it all in my body.” Kurt pressed a kiss to his  lips and Sebastian gripped him tight thanking the universe for the man in his arms. 

Fuck the 7-year itch. Sebastian made it his bitch. 

**Author's Note:**

> Hello all! just a quick reminder that I really do appreciate any and all comments and kudos. It really does add a tiny bit of brightness to my day. I explained in the last fic that i'm going through a very hard time and if you would like to find out a way to help please let me know. Again let me know any thoughts or questions you have. I would love to hear from you.


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